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Overview

Singalamba goes into the bush with his child to hunt. Finding no game, he kills the child, dries the flesh, ties it into parcels and starts home. A bird follows, accusing him and announcing that it will expose the supposed meat as human flesh. He strikes the bird with thrown sticks, catches it and burns it. Continuing on his journey, he hears the same accusation again ahead of him. His next attempt to strike it fails. The bird flies onward and finally perches on his hut, bringing the accusation directly to the village.

The villagers become suspicious about the meat they have eaten. The child’s mother sends a young messenger to her parents, because the husband claims that the boy has gone to deliver meat there. They have not seen him. She questions her husband, repeats the inquiry and receives the same confirmation of the boy’s absence. Finally he admits killing the child. She weeps, gathers her belongings and leaves for her mother’s home, while villagers confront the fact that their meal was the boy’s flesh. The child is not restored in the ending. The bird is unnamed, and the text does not identify it as the child’s transformed soul; its unexplained return after burning is the extraordinary disclosure mechanism.

Accusing voiceReturn after burningFollowing the killer to his hutCrime disclosure without child resurrection
01

Origins & earliest records

Jacottet’s 1901 Textes Louyi prints original-language tales with French translations. Introduction pp. i–ii distinguishes Kaboukou’s 1895 dictation from material supplied by Akaende and Maroumo in June–July 1900. It says individual assignments depend on contents markers; the inspected narrative heading does not independently identify this tale’s teller, so its individual attribution remains unconfirmed.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete selected French text and surrounding notes read. Unexplained mechanisms remain unexplained; neighbouring tales and collector hypotheses do not supply extra actions.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Études sur les langues du Haut-Zambèze, III: Textes Louyi

    Édouard Jacottet; volume contributors Kaboukou, Akaende and Maroumo · 1901

    XXVII, Singalamba, pp. 77–78, complete accusation, inquiries, confession and departure. Individual narrator assignment unresolved.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Digitized primary collected textJacottet — Louyi leopard marriageResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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